During the past week, China's common alloy market registered an overall increase. Prices of manganese alloys rose on the back of the increased purchase activity of mills, while the uptrend in the ferrosilicon market picked up speed because of the suspension of production by many producers and the resulting tightness of supply.
Product name | Specification | Place of origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change ($/mt) |
Silicon manganese | FeMn65Si17 | Guangxi | 7,700 | +100 | 1,132 | +15 |
Ferrosilicon | FeSi75 | Gansu | 6,550 | +100 | 963 | +15 |
In the past week, the prices of manganese alloys maintained their rising trend. Currently, market quotations of FeMn65Si17 are at RMB 7,750-7,950/mt ($1,140-1,169/mt) in the north of China, and are priced at RMB 7,600-7,900/mt ($1,118-1,162/mt) in the south of the country, increasing by RMB 100/mt ($15/mt) week on week. At the same time, the mainstream price of FeMn65 stands at around RMB 7,500-7,700/mt ($1,108-1,132/mt), with the upper end up by RMB 100/mt ($15/mt). Meanwhile, export offers of FeMn65Si17 are standing at $1,450-1,500/mt FOB.
At present, the supply of manganese alloys in the domestic market is rather tight while the purchase activity of mills appears to have increased. It is expected that manganese alloy prices will continue to increase in the short term.
In the past week, the Chinese ferrosilicon market rose again. Current ex-works prices of ferrosilicon (75 percent) in domestic market stand at RMB 6,500-6,600/mt ($956-971/mt), up by RMB 100/mt ($15/mt) week on week, while export offers of ferrosilicon (75 percent) have remained at $1,350/mt FOB.
At present, many ferrosilicon producers have suspended production operations, and it is heard that most ferrosilicon furnaces in the region of Inner Mongolia have ceased activity. Supplies of ferrosilicon will continue to be affected if suspensions of production are maintained, and thus prices will be boosted.
In the week in question, China's ferrosilicon export market was still weak. The ferrosilicon export volume continued to decline, with 73,500 mt exported in July, down by 13.316 percent month on month, while the total export volume from January to July reached 496,700 mt, up by 17.361 percent year on year.